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U
NITY IN
Westem Europe is
being weighed in the bal–
ance - and found wanting.
The ties that bind the nine-nation
European Communi ty together are
proving to be little match against
lhe powerful forces of nalional self–
interest.
Every Man for Himself
Look al what has happened in lhe
Jasl few months. Little wonder that
" Eurocrats" at Common Market
headquarters in Brussels are deeply
concerned over the powerful cen–
tri fuga l forces thal threaten lo snap
the tenuous threads of unity so ca,re–
fully woven over two decades of
painstaking work.
lt
began with the Arab oil boycott
against the Nelherlands. The tiny,
bul pivolally si tuated Dutch nalion,
possessing West Europe's chief pe–
troleum port and refining facilities
at Rotterdam, was Jeft isolaled by its
Communily parlners when lh e
Arabs singled il out as pro-Israeü.
Lip service was given to Commu–
nily solidarily in the face of lhe
Nelherlálid's position - bul little
else.
It
was not long afterward lhat
the big three . Common Market oil
users - F rance, .Britain and West
Germany ·_ struck out on their own
as national governments to ma ke
their own prívate deals.
Firs t , no t unexpectedly , the
French wen.t to work. They had
been least affected by the boycott
because of their favorable position
with the Arab world. But they be–
carne deeply concerned. ov.er the
soaring price of oifand its effect on
France's balance of payments.
Fi'ench ' omcials hustled off to
Saudi Arabia, lheir portfolios bulg–
ing wilh offers. The result was a
massive arms-for-oil swap, as yet
unfinalized, tha t guaranteed signifi–
cant future supplies of oil for France's
industrial needs. In exchange for
900 million
to~ns
of oil to be deüv–
ered over a 20-year period, the
-'Saudis, in· turn, are ··to receive Mi–
rage jet fighters, AMX tanks and a
host of other weapons.
Now France has her oil - she
PLAIN TRUTH April 1974
Wi/1 the Common Market s ur–
vi ve the energy crisis intact?
This is the big question the ex–
perts are asking as Western
European nat ions scramble
over each other's back s to ar–
range príva te deals for thát
most precious of al/ industrial
commodities today
-
oil.
by
Gene H. Hogberg
thinks. Bul, as one observer pul it,
"the very
con~pt
of the.deal is ludi–
crous." The big assumption is that
thi·ngs
~jll
be so sta ble in the
Middle East lhat, for two decades,
oil will fiow lik.e honey to France
without interruption by wars, over–
throws of governments, or changes
in política! a lliances or sentiments.
The very arms offered in the swap
could even play their own ironical
part in unfortunale fulure results.
Follow the l eader
But something
.~lse
happen,ed
~s
well - to Europe. Walter Laqueur
of the l qsti tute of Contemporary
History in London pul it most suc–
cinctly when he wrote: "Another
nail has been put into the coffin of
European unity. Britain and o ther
European countries have been en–
couraged to look for similar bar–
gains."
Indeed they have been.
Th'e Biltish, quick to follow the
French Jead, made their own pil–
grimage to Saudi Arabia and carne
off with a contract involving thirty
million tons of petroleum a year for
the next ten years - again in ex–
change for weapons systems and
machinery. Accords of a similar na–
ture developed with Kuwait, Abu
Dhabi and Qatar.
Seeking perhaps the biggest deal
of all, British Chancellor of the Ex–
chequer Anthon.y Barber packed off
to visit the Shah of Iran to conclude
a barter deal of Brilish steel, ce–
ment, rubber, papet, fiber products
and anything else the I ranians
might wanl for oil. In a separate
deal, the British Aircraft corpora-
tion concluded an agreement for
part of lhe "anything else" - a $140
million sale of air defense and an–
tiaircraft guided missile equipment
for lran's mili tary forces.
Nail number lwo in the coffin of
European unily was being ham–
mered in. And the third spike was
nol long in coming.
West Germany felt it could not
afford to Jet its " partners" get all of
the action. Agents from Bono ar–
ranged to sell "Leopard" tanks to
the Iranian government and a com–
plete oi l refinery complex to lhe
same parly. The German govern–
menl is reported to have sent nego–
tiating teams to various Arab states,
although Bonn prefers, for obvious
historical reasons, to sell nonmili–
tary industrial goods to anyone di–
rectly involved in the Arab-lsraeli
dispute. (Moslem, but non-Arab,
Iran is not involved.)
What then is the upshot of the
frantic maneuverings upon Europe
itself? Says the
New York Times'
C.
L. Sulzberger: "Thus three bell–
wethers of the European ·Commu–
nity flock have all struck off on tbeir
own, disregarding common obliga–
tions . . . . The result has been to
rock the Com.t)1unity."
Another Blow Struck
But the above does not tell the
whole story by any means. Earlier
this year France
abruptl~ d~ci,~ed
to
floa t the franc withour consulting
with or warning any of her Brussels
partners except West Germany.
The action struck a beavy politi–
cal
and psychological blow, The
move was a clear signa! that France
or any olher Community member
has the right to mampulate its cur–
rency into a better competitive posi–
tion to pay for oil's
incx:eas.~d
.cpst.
Critics say this competition will
be
at the expense of fellow Market
members.
The unilateral
Fr~nch
decision
was even more profound from an-
otber view. ·
;
Botb the British and Italians have
been fioating their currencies for
quite sorne time. For these two
;~sick
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